Britain Sends Lethal Warship to Gulf to Protect International Vessels
On Thursday, the Government said the UK sent one of its most lethal warships to help increase regional security in the Gulf and Indian Ocean.
The Diamond will operate to “deter escalations from malign and hostile actors who seek to disrupt maritime security”, Britain said.
The operation is to ensure freedom of navigation, reassure merchant vessels and safe trading.
The deployment of HMS Diamond, a type 45 destroyer that can shoot missiles out of the sky, came after the Galaxy Leader cargo ship was hijacked by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis in the southern Red Sea earlier this month.
The dispatching of the Diamond,’ the destroyer, follows the deployment of 2 support ships and surveillance aircraft to the region.
The Ministry of Defence said the destroyer is equipped with a wildcat helicopter and will join HMS Lancaster, a type 23 frigate, two smaller minehunters and a Royal fleet auxiliary support ship.
Defence Secretary Grant Shapps said, “He was beefing up a long-standing Royal Navy maritime security operation in the Gulf to reduce the risk of the current crisis between Israel and Tehran-backed Hamas escalating into a regional conflict.”
He added, “This is a response to what’s happening in the region.”
In a statement, the Senior Minister said, “It is critical that the UK bolsters our presence in the region to keep Britain and our interests safe from a more volatile and contested world.”
“Operation Kipion”
The most substantial attempts to de-escalate the situation and deter Iran have come from the U.S. They sent two huge aircraft carrier strike groups to the region and have unusually flagged the presence of a submarine.
The HMS Diamond will join a mission called “Operation Kipion”, which operates out of Bahrain and performs with allied navies to provide further maritime security to commercial shipping in the Gulf and the Indian Ocean.
The operation began in 2019 during the ongoing tension between the U.S., the U.K., and other allies with Iran when Donald Trump was president.
Mr. Shapps said, “Arab leaders would welcome the enhanced British footprint as a stabilizing presence.”
“We will be working in the region really to assure our many partners there.”
A separate mission
The security of vital commercial shipping routes in the region increased last week when Houthi militants captured the Galaxy Leader cargo ship.
This called for a cause of concerns.
A video released by the militants showed at least seven masked men carrying guns drop from a helicopter and land on the top deck of the ship.
It showed them successfully capturing the vessel and raising the Yemeni and Palestinian flags on the ship.
Israeli officials said the ship was British-owned and Japanese-operated.
However, according to public shipping databases, the owner was Ray Car Carriers, founded by Abraham “Rami” Ungar, the wealthiest man in Israel.
Shapps announced a sperate mission. He says the Royal Navy task force of seven ships will deploy with allies early next month on a mission in European waters.
The aim is to protect critical underwater infrastructure, such as cables known to be a high-value target for states like Russia.
The combined patrols will be the first operation by the U.K.-led grouping of 10 like-minded European nations called the joint expeditionary force.
The mission will cover a wide area from the English Channel to the Baltic Sea.
